It is well understood by those who ski that turning is effected by urging the sharpened edges, at which the bottom surfaces of the skis meet their substantially vertical side surfaces, into the snow or ice, by shifting one's weight. It is further understood that to turn efficiently, the ski edges must be kept sharp, free of bumps and digs, and that it is desirable that the edges be as perpendicular to the bottom as possible. Typically the skis are manufactured out of fiberglass materials, sometimes laminated with other materials, and the edges are formed by steel strips typically on the order of 1/8 by 1/4 inches high and wide respectively, integrally molded into the skis to form their edges. It is common practice to sharpen or "tune" these edges by filing them square prior to a skiing outing.
It is difficult to obtain accurately square edges by simple hand filing. Accordingly, the prior art shows several tools for achieving this purpose. However, none of these are as efficient nor as well designed as would be desired. The prior art tools have flat bottoms which ride on the bottom surfaces of the ski and comprise a file integrally mounted in the body of the tool to achieve the proper angle. See, for example, Gorlach et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,484. This patent shows retention of the file in the body of the tool by a magnet affixed to the body of the tool. This has the extremely significant defect that the steel particles removed in filing will tend to be attracted to the magnet and then be ground into the very delicate bottom surface of the ski. Skis are now being made of very "high tech" materials which the steel filings can readily damage, and which tend to retain the filings. Of course, this greatly interferes with their function of substantially friction-free sliding over snow. Kollmeder U.S. Pat. No. 3,968,345 shows a tool combining waxing and filing functions. Another patent which is relevant generally to this subject matter is Strojny U.S. Pat. No. 4,241,624, which shows a tool having a generally 3/4 circular cross section with a file formed therein. This tool is unduly cumbersome to use and does not provide any positive means of removing the filings such that they are not ground into the bottom surface of the ski. Other relevant patents in this area are Sparling U.S. Pat. No. 4,089,076, and Gern U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,571. Neither of these show any positive means of removing the filings from the region of the file.